CYOA Week 6: Lup, Shinobu, Yoo Joonghyuk

[guestservices]

Comments

[guestservices]

[welcome awake.

regardless of where you were the night before, today you find yourself waking up in a field. the grass is tall, soft and gently waving in the breeze as the night sky stretches before you. stars dot along the horizon, and a few clouds hang overhead. the stars are bright enough to let you see where to go next and as you stand you find yourself in the center of a crossroad.

four paths stretch in the four cardinal directions. now that you're on your feet, the grass only comes up to your ankles. you can see for miles...but there doesn't appear to be anything in the immediate area. little grassy hills can be seen in the distance. you are without personal items, at the moment, but don't worry.

the first step is always the hardest. where would you like to begin?]

[evocationary]

[oh i hate crossroads no more demons

anyway, she blinks, and rubs at her face? and then looks... around. and then looks at her companions, and does the :nyeh: face. not because she hates them but because wow is this going to be awkward. and also because really!! a second time!!!]

... Again? Really? [patting herself down...]

[wisterin]

[ shinobu wakes up and frowns. not again.

she looks around and sees who's with her, and a smile slams into place. this is fine. this is very fine to be with one of the two people who accused dimitri and the person who executed him. she isn't really angry at any of them more than the whole situation, and she can be mature? mostly mature. ]

Let's get along, shall we?

[ she looks at the crossroads. ]

It would have been nice to have some things on hands, but beggars can't be choosers.

[malewife]

[ Ah, to wake up and be squished between the person who accused Dimitri and the one who wanted to kill Dimitri herself. Well. There is probably a lot to unpack here, but in Yoo Joonghyuk fashion he says

absolutely nothing. ]

We’re meant to choose a path.

[ Assumption. He crosses his arms. ]

[evocationary]

[listen

there's no winning here so lup just groans.] This is my punishment. I'm in hell.

Okay, uh - yeah. Path. Do any of these ways look promising or is it just like, pick one and perish. Are we sticking together? [she would not blame them if they were like "anyway fuck you bye"]

[wisterin]

I believe we've been hell from the beginning.

[ there really is no winning.

there's a pause before she admits: ]

I do not wish either of you to come to harm or suffer, as is so common in these excursions. I believe it wiser to stick together, but....

[ she looks over at yjh who wholeassed ditched the person he was supposed to kill during execution. ]

[malewife]

[ He was a rabbit... What did you expect him to do? Rip Dimitri's throat with his teeth? Clock him in the head with his pocket watch?

Anyway, he rattles through his pockets and frowns. Nothing. ]

With what little we have, I agree. [ Looks at the different directions only to find grassy hills. ] We can start north.

[ Since... No one has an opinion, right? Perish time. ]

[evocationary]

I don't want either of you to get hurt either.

[she might as well just say it. she doesn't wish either of them ill.]

... North is fine with me. I guess we just walk.

[wisterin]

I have no objections.

[ to the north!! ]

[malewife]

[ NORTH!! But Joonghyuk is also like this. ]

You seem nervous.

[guestservices]

[to the north!!

the path is dirt. as they walk, their footprints are left behind and they begin to make their way forward. even if they turn to glance behind them it's difficult to see where, exactly, they began. it seems as if the crossroads are always behind them but they begin to make their way up a hill.

the stars flicker above them, twinkling almost-playfully. a few shooting stars sail overhead and they will find that the hill is a little steeper than anticipated. the field behind them grows darker, and as they reach the top of the hill they will see what appears to be a large, sloping lawn.

trees surround the property ahead, evergreens that stand tall and proudly. making their way down the hill, they find themselves approaching what appears to be...a tower. it's a little curved, several stories high and twisting and winding to a peak at the very top. spiraling turrets jut out from the sides, and at the top a weathervane of moon and stars spins slowly in the night breeze against the cosmic sky.

the yard is sparse. there are a few things around the yard itself such as a smaller ground-level turret and a few glowing flowers. the grass is flattened and worn as if it's been trampled on repeatedly. but the door to the tower stands before them. all of the windows are lit.

will they barge in? or will they do something else?]

[evocationary]

Who does? [huff.

i'm sorry did you say there's a turret. like a gun turret?

she pauses, looking at the glowing flowers. she is unfortunately weak to these and she wants one, but she's not moving closer just yet.]

[wisterin]

[ yeah, who looks nervous? shinobu ignores that remark whether or not it was meant for her.

she looks up at the stars every now and then until they reach the tower. she notes the space theme and honestly, she thinks the glowing flowers are very neat, too, but she'll let lup examine those. ] ]

I'm going to try and look around it.

[ she is going to try to walk to the side of the tower and see if anything is around it or behind it.

if it's not impossibly wide. ]

[malewife]

[ Whoever thinks the comment is meant for them can continue to ponder cause he isn’t going to elaborate…

Since there’s mention of ground-level turrets (castle), he will investigate those to see if there’s anything useful? What does ground-level mean for a turret… is that like the size where they can just peek into it, help.

He will also take note of the state of the grass! Can he discern what could have done this? Are there prints of any kind? Any tale-telling signs, such as hooves, wheels, just footprints from constant pacing? ]

If we plan to approach the lit tower, it should be one person.

[ He doesn’t want cyoa NPCs to know there are more of them in case they need to rob this person. ]

[guestservices]

[TO CLARIFY, THEY ARE NOT GUN TURRETS (yet.) but yeah. so lup can see that the glowy flowers are blue in color, almost like crystals. as she approaches, she may feel herself calming down a little, a zen sort of feeling.

shinobu can make her way around the tower. it's wide, but the land that it's on is wider and allows her to do so and she finds what appears to be a few wooden barrels and a chest. hm.

as for yjh, he can walk up to the turret. it's basically like a shed on the side of the tower, so he could open the door if he wanted. peeking inside though, all he will see are what appear to be giant metal rings of some kind and a few poles. the grass itself appears to have been flattened by footprints of varying sizes, wheels, animal prints, and a few unidentifiable prints. it's really flat in a few places, but it's not the entire lawn at least.

do you really only want to send one person into this tower.]

[evocationary]

[oh, she likes zen. she will go gently pick one up and tuck it behind her ear? sorry about fashion, that comes first.

she watches... the other two wander off. and sighs. they're both still in the lawn but whatever, lup makes bad decisions, and she's totally zen right now so why not, right. yjh is like one person should go to the tower! so she does. she approaches the lit tower and doesn't even think twice she just knocks. better hide if you don't want to be seen.]

[wisterin]

[ does she need stupid boys around in order to be the responsible one

shinobu is too busy glancing into these barrels, if she can, and trying to open this chest to notice lup just walking right up. at least not immediately.

so i guess that's happening. ]

[malewife]

[ For the prints, are there differentiating humanoid feet of different sizes or will it not matter.

Joonghyuk is also just checking out the inside of one of the shed turrets! Are these rings supposed to be guards? Like to reinforce wheels or grinders… me like wtf are these.

Tell me about the poles. They wood? No, he doesn’t realize Lup had shouldered the responsibility and left to Jehovah Witness the tower. ]

[guestservices]

[well. no one answers the knock so there's that? but the door does appear to be unlocked. shinobu cannot see into the barrels since they are also closed from the top, and the chest looks like it is locked and needs some sort of key to open it, if not another mechanism.

it does not matter regarding the feet but i will tell you that they are just a lot of different sizes like people running around with shoes on. the rings are large, metal hoops that look like they may hang from something. the poles are made of solid, sturdy wood and appear to have clasps hanging from the top. maybe the rings are meant to hang from them? they are very large and spiked at the end as if they are meant to go into the ground. very thick, too.]

[evocationary]

[the answer to that question, ara, is yes.

lup opens the door and peeks inside.]

[wisterin]

[ shinobu will try to open this closed barrel while lup is zen and entering this tower alone. ]

[malewife]

[ are these poles lootable

He wants them, at most three, but at least one, and after he gets them or doesn’t he will leave to notice something.

Hm. ]

Where is Lup Lastname?

[guestservices]

[we are already off to a great start.

lup looks inside the door and she sees...stairs! it is a massive set of stairs that seems to lead up and wind around and around to the top of the tower. tucked away under the staircase is a broom and a bucket.

shinobu can try to pry open the barrel, but it does not seem to budge just by doing that. she may have to leave it for now.

yjh. can. technically take a pole i guess? they're like. very tall. and bulky. like nothing is stopping him but if he starts to grab for one he will find that it's possibly even taller than he is and decently thick.]

[evocationary]

[lup lastname is going into the tower to take the broom. this belongs to her now.

she's also going to start climbing the stairs. i'm sorry yjh and shinobu, i'm glad they're the completionists and lup is the speedrunner.]

[wisterin]

[ she can't open anything, so she leaves it alone and goes back.

she looks around at yjh, then at the open door, and back. ]

It looks like she went in. I'm following.

[ and unless yjh stops her, she's going to do just that. ]